Recent Tasting Notes

Picked this set up for myself as a little after Christmas gift because it was inexpensive and I deserve nice things (mainly because it was inexpensive, haha)! I tried the mango today and it’s pretty nice. I don’t get much flavor from it but the base is really nice for being a cheap-o. No bitterness, no astringency. Just a nice little tea that held up pretty well to my lunch of leftover chili. It’s still really freaking cold here, for those wanting a weather update. A good amount of ice and snow still on the ground.

In other news, I took a Tea 101 class yesterday and it was followed by a focused green tea tasting at a local tea shop. It was a nice class but truly a 101. I didn’t learn anything, except that I like Japanese greens over Chinese, because I’d heard everything else by hanging out on here and from taking lessons on Adagio’s Tea Class online. I did have my first matcha and that was fun! It was still kinda powdery, not like what I’ve seen pictures of however, and everyone at my table dumped theirs except my husband who handed his to me to drink.

Preparation

Raspberry this afternoon; needed a lower caffeine fuel injection after a high-concentration morning trying to hammer out curriculum on a deadline. I liked it, but I think sippers who prefer their flavors precisely on target might call it mildly berry-ish rather than properly raspberry.

The best tea ever is the first cup you drink when you are safely tucked in your house when you’ve been riding the tired, chilled, and stressed roller coaster. Even if it’s bagged Lipton. In this case, it was a little tinned, bagged, mango green that isn’t very mango-y, but is chasing away the shivers. (If someone gives you this tinned variety, don’t throw it out; use it in a pinch, and enjoy the really cute tins.)

An orange bag from this set this afternoon to accompany some puttering and piddling; putting away bits and pieces from Mom’s … you know, those things that are not valuable to anyone but you: her red hat, her earring collection, a miniature (real) cast iron stove with tiny cauldrons and skillets…but no teakettle.

I’ll continue my “this isn’t bad for a gift set” rating for the entire series. Orange is mild in this one; pithy instead of tart. Further proof that one should not discount the value of bagged tea. It serves a valuable purpose.

Took one more vacation day to “rest” (read that: do half a dozen loads of laundry, change bedding, unpack, rake leaves, gather notes for next writing project due way too soon) and it’s time for a quick feet-up.

And so, in asking, “What would taste good with rake, broom, and leaf crispies?” I saw the orange tin out of this batch on my whatnot shelf and something made the mental connection that this would be tasty. It really isn’t bad for a cheapie gift set; nice orange-zest-peel flavor rather than eye-watering tartness.

Lemon is my favorite out of this little gift tin collection. Pastry lemon. Not zinger lemon. Hubby made special stop at farmers’ market today to get petit fours from the German family that brings baked goods (wonderful almond flavor)—-lemon green complemented it nicely.

Green tea doesn’t make sun tea very well—my best results come from steeping a green tea properly, then chilling it. Tried it in a quart jar anyway with the peach variety out of this collection. Not bad—I probably pulled it a little sooner than I could’ve to avoid bitterness. But there’s some peach in there and there’s some green in there, and when you just want a slug of something cool, subtle nuances don’t matter much.

This little tinned collection is turning out to be surprisingly acceptable.

Tried the lemon tin out of this collection and again, was pleasantly surprised. For a set of inexpensive “gift teas,” these haven’t been bad.

This is my kind of lemon. Not the sharp squeeze-lemon tartness that makes your eyebrows sweat and your eyes water. Lemon rind, lemon bread, lemon pastry kind of lemon. Furthermore, it doesn’t appear to be finicky. Didn’t wait long enough for the water to cool to proper “green” temperature, then got sidetracked helping my 20-year-old hunt for a favorite childhood blankie (makes a mommy’s heart all squooshy). And even after 6-8 minutes, it wasn’t bitter. Go figure. Pleasant side effect of a cheap green tea?

I have been longing for a substitute for the San Francisco Herb Co. green and lemon tea I can no longer find. This could be it.

Today’s tin was orange in honor of the orange-cranberry bread currently in the oven. (I am soon going to run out of things to bake to keep the kitchen warm!) Since it’s a cheapie, tossed two bags in my oversized mug, and instead of strengthening the orange as hoped, it made the cheap green tea base bitter. A little squooze of honey resolved that.

Not my favorite out of the batch, but again, I think it will be a good cheapster Steepster iced IF the weather ever gets warm.

I broke into the Mango tin this evening. Not being a mango connoisseur (if you can spell that correctly without Googling, I salute you!) I can’t tell you how accurate the flavor is. I’ve always thought mangoes tasted like darker, overripe peaches. But for a little tin of bagged gift tea with a green tea base of unknown and inexpensive origin, it’s not bad! Wasn’t bitter, didn’t taste artificial; might be tasty iced. If spring ever gets here some decade.

Early birthday from a friend—looks like flavors “may vary,” so I just added this as a set for easy posting, should anybody else care to. My bundle has mango, raspberry, lemon, orange and peach. The tins are adorable and just scream “kitchen deco.”

I tried the peach green tea with lunch. It is not stellar; but it is not terrible. If you concentrate and set your lips just so, you can get a little peachiness. Plenty of bags to play with—I think this may be a better iced tea IF the weather ever warms up.

Surprisingly this wasn’t bad. I had a craving to try a strawberry tea and this was certainly it. Mild black tea with soothing strawberry, nothing else added. I steeped for 8 minutes. Quite mild but pleasant and smooth. I expected a cheap perfume taste or something, but it didn’t have that.

Extended family Christmas fail: my uncle gave my mom (his sister) a tea-for-one set, and gave me a bathrobe. My mom doesn’t drink hot tea. I already have 4 bathrobes (2 of which were presents from said uncle).

So, anyway, Mom and I split the tea (for her to make and have iced), and she’s keeping the tea-for-one pot/cup to display. The tea itself is…well, not as delightful as I would like for a lemon tea to be. The black tea itself isn’t bad, but the lemon flavoring is a bit reminiscent of lemon scented dish soap. Now saying that, it’s more enjoyable than you’d think. Not something that I’d ever pick up again, but I’ll be able to drink it and finish off my half. It’s kind of comforting in a way I can’t describe. I’ll probably drink it when I’m simply thirsty or don’t want to have something that I’ll have to pay attention to.

Preparation

My mother loves having lit candles and she thinks that a tealight holder with a lit tealight in the window is all sorts of pretty and cozy and whatnot. I’m sure it is. But I never light candles at home, I don’t have any suitable windows to light them and frankly would be likely to forget I had lit them if I had. At last count I possess 14 tealight holders… I totally understand about the bathrobes. When the time comes to do my birthday wishlist it will have the information of the amount of tealight holders in my possession and a request to not add to the collection on it, I think. I did that with towels once, since it seemed everybody who couldn’t come up with anything got me towels. I’ve still got some that I haven’t even unpacked yet. They’ll come out when it’s time to throw out some old ones.